Soft porn king Joe Francis created the Girls Gone Wild franchise, famous for its videos of young women baring their breasts and more, in 1997.

The company owes more than $16 million in disputed claims, according to multiple reports.

The filing was made in an effort to keep Las Vegas hotel boss Steve Wynn from securing the company’s assets to satisfy a $10.3 million gambling debt lawsuit.

The hotel mogul was awarded a $7.5 million judgment for defamation in 2007 after Francis claimed the casino tycoon threatened to kill him. A jury later awarded Wynn an additional $20 million for punitive damages for slander.

A statement from Girls Gone Wild, obtained by Us Weekly magazine, reads: “The only reason Girls Gone Wild has elected to file for this reorganization is to re-structure its frivolous and burdensome legal affairs. This Chapter 11 filing will not affect any of Girls Gone Wild’s domestic or international operations. Just like American Airlines and General Motors, it will be business as usual for Girls Gone Wild.”

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian recently jetted off to Mexico for a thrill-seeking holiday with Girls Gone Wild boss Joe Francis. The soft-porn mogul invited the superstar couple to stay with him at his …

Kim Kardashian, Kanye West

(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian recently jetted off to Mexico for a thrill-seeking holiday with Girls Gone Wild boss Joe Francis.

The soft-porn mogul invited the superstar couple to stay with him at his rental home with a group of friends and documented the vacation in a blog post on his website.

Francis posted a picture of the pair wearing hard hats and climbing gear during a zip lining tour through the Mexican jungle, while they also enjoyed a jet-skiing trip.

The post reads, “Joe Francis is fresh off a tropical vacation where he hosted close friends in Mexico. Included were guests Kim Kardashian and her new boyfriend Kanye West. … The couple relaxed poolside before hitting the ocean and ripping through the waves on jet skis. … They also participated in a thrilling zip lining tour through the Mexican jungle flying between trees, spanning rope bridges, and sharing memorable laughs.”

Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis was handcuffed by cops in Beverly Hills on Thursday when a traffic accident led to a heated argument with another motorist. Francis was embroiled in a dispute after …

“Girls Gone Wild” founder Joe Francis has been arrested over allegations of false imprisonment after offering three women a lift following a night at a club.

The businessman is accused of offering to drive the trio to their car near a bar in Los Angeles but taking them to his mansion instead.

Francis attended a police station in the city on Monday night where he was arrested on three misdemeanor counts of false imprisonment and one charge of dissuading a witness from making a report, according to TMZ.com.

FayesVision/WENN.com The publishers of a new tell-all book about Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis have called him a “rapist” and “sleazehole” in court documents after he tried to block sales of the …

Francis is taking legal action to ban the release of “FLASH! Bars, Boobs, and Busted: 5 Years on the Road with Girls Gone Wild,” by Francis’ former employee Ryan Simkin.

Simkin is said to give graphic accounts of Francis’ alleged drug taking with pals in the book, according to TMZ.com.

But bosses at publishing company 4th Street Media are fighting back against Francis, hitting him with a series of allegations in legal documents filed on Tuesday at Los Angeles County Superior Court.

In the papers, Francis is described as a “convicted felon; child molester; jail-baiting pervert; pimp; sick b**tard; sleaze-peddler; tax cheat; rapist; sleazehole; the epitome of a true misogynist, coked-out amoral direct marketer; violent thug; juvenile smut-peddler; sexual predator; one of the 50 most loathsome people in America; and the Douche of the Decade.”

Adult filmmaker Joe Francis had another run-in with the law during a night out in Hollywood on Tuesday when he reportedly had to be escorted from the premises of new Hollywood hotspot Club MI6. The …

Adult filmmaker Joe Francis had another run-in with the law during a night out in Hollywood on Tuesday when he reportedly had to be escorted from the premises of new Hollywood hotspot Club MI6.

The “Girls Gone Wild” founder stepped out to attend the lavish launch of the venue formerly known as Foxtail, but his night was cut short when he was stopped at the door by club security.

A source tells Hollyscoop.com, “Security told him he wasn’t allowed inside and he went crazy. After he was escorted out he started screaming at the owner of the club and tried to make his way back in.”

Cops from the Los Angeles Police Department were called to intervene when Francis attempted to barge past the doormen, and officers were forced to “drag him out” of the club.

Rumors suggest Francis was banned from the club’s opening by MI6 part owner, “The Hills’” Frankie Delgado, who is close friends with fellow reality TV star Brody Jenner.

Francis is currently under police investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department following an altercation with Jenner and his girlfriend, Jayde Nicole, outside a nightclub last month.

However, Delgado’s business partner and MI6 co-owner Sam Nazarian insists he has no problem with Francis.

Nazarian tells the Web site, “He’s a good friend and I don’t know what happened but we can resolve it tomorrow. He’s a great guy, I think he was too excited for our grand opening.”

The director also has a slew of other legal problems to face — he was this week ordered to stand trial in October over charges of tax evasion.